THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION IN NIGERIA: THE ROLE OF THE CHURCH

Abstract

One of the challenges that has remained consistent through the historical evolution of the Nigerian state, right from independence, is the menace of corruption. It has eaten and still eats every fabric of the life of the nation from the political, through the educational, health, economic, etc., life of the nation. This work seeks to expose the pervasiveness of corruption in the Nigerian society and give a more barring insight into the role the Church can play in reducing to the barest minimum, if not totally eradicating corruption in the present day Nigeria. It has the aim of providing solution to the problem of corruption from a religious perspective. This paper understands corruption as the act of weakening moral principle, integrity or virtue, for the sake of satisfying one’s yearnings or desire. Humans are religious in nature. As corruption is rapidly finding its root into every fabric of the human society, this paper discovers that the church, which is a religious institution, can help eradicate corruption. For the purpose of this paper, the thematic and analytic methods of inquiry were employed.